Item transport systems, such as mailpiece handling systems, for example, are known in the art. These systems include inserter systems, which create mailpieces and prepare them for mailing, as well as sortation systems, which sort completed mailpieces and direct the mailpieces to storage pockets or bins, depending on the system's configuration. Sortation of mailpieces may be carried out either prior to mailing (i.e., outsorting) or upon receipt from a postal carrier (i.e., insorting). Other types of transport systems and related applications are known.
In some transport systems, mailpieces are transported using belts or chain drives between stations where they undergo various types of processing. The processing may include cutting, folding, scanning, weighing, printing, and labeling, for example.
Some of the processing steps require that a mailpiece be maintained in a particular orientation or at a particular distance from a processing element. In one example, a scanning device may require a particular alignment or offset distance between the mailpiece and the device. In another example, certain printing devices, such as inkjet printers, for example, require a constant offset with respect to the mailpiece to ensure printing integrity.
In those cases, the control of the mailpiece provided by the transport belts or chains may affect the ability to properly orient and register the mailpiece for processing. Such control may be difficult to maintain where consecutive mailpieces have different thicknesses, such as a post card followed by a catalog, for example.